Sunken ship Black Rose completed its seven years of sinking on Thursday. On September 9, 2009 at 9 PM, the iron ore loaded cargo ship had sunk at the Paradip anchorage zone in which out of 27 crew members 26 crews were rescued.
The PPT marine team and Indian Coast Guard had conducted the rescue operation but, the Russian Chief Engineer of the ship had lost his life whose dead body was recovered after three days of the incident.
After seven long years, that sunken ship could not be removed from the spot. The upper portion of the hull of the ship was cut into pieced by scrap mafia in the sea and stolen away. The ship is not seen above the water surface but is lying submerged in sea and poses a hazard for navigation for other ships and fishing trawlers.
The Odisha High Court had directed to the Jagatsinghpur district Collector for removal of the sunken ship. But district administration has not taken any action till date.
After sinking of the Black Rose, the investigation had started about the ship and its owner. The ship was operated by a Singapore based company, Black Rose Ship Management, which was a fake company. Black Rose Ship was 30 years old and its insurance and fitness certificates were also fake. But it was plying all over the world carrying various cargos.
Seatrance Shipping Company was the local shipping agent of the ship which after the incident was operating their business in a different name to avoid liabilities for the sinking. The ship had loaded on September 9 2009, 24,300 MT iron ore for a Chinese port when it was sunk at the anchorage. The port clearance for sailing of the vessel was not issued.
The black oil which was partially leaked from the ship and the seawater polluted and aquatic animal were killed. For full removal of the ship, the Paradip Port Trust through a global tender awarded the task to to the an American company at a whopping Rs20 crore. The Crime Branch of Odisha had started the investigation in the matter but later on the investigation was in cold storage. Crime Branch DSP Santosh Kumar Pattanaik had gone to Singapore for investigation to find the owners of Black Rose. But he could not trace the ship owners. Then Odisha High Court had directed to Jagatsinghpur Collector for removal of the ship after environment concerns were raised. The cause of sinking of the ship is not made public till now.